State Fair shocks Lady Raiders in Region XVI final

The State Fair Lady Roadrunners upset the Three Rivers College Lady Raiders 73-70 to claim the Region XVI women’s basketball title on Friday night at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

State Fair gets the automatic bid to the national tournament in Casper, Wyoming. TRC is still expected to receive an at-large bid, but will have to wait until Sunday evening to hear if it will happen.

The Lady Raiders saw their winning streak snapped at 20 games and fall to 28-3 on the season. This was State Fair’s first win in four tries over Three Rivers this season, and the Roadrunners raise their record to 24-6.

It was an unfortunate night for one of the Lady Raiders’ poorest shooting performances this season. After leading 22-19 after the first quarter, Three Rivers was outscored 29-17 in a second quarter in which almost nothing the Lady Raiders shot fell in, while State Fair gained the momentum it needed to hold their lead for most of the second half.

“State Fair was tougher than us tonight,” said Lady Raiders coach Alex Wiggs. “They were more physical than us, they got every loose ball tonight, and they did a great job.”

Although it was small consolation following the loss, Wiggs was named Region XVI Coach of the Year among the other awards presented at the end of the game.

Kayla Sullivan led the Lady Roadrunners with a game-high 21 points, joined by teammates Shae Wright with 17 and Malia Rodgers with 12. State Fair shot 48% from the floor and 46% from 3-point range.

The Lady Raiders had a tough night on the scoreboard, with Sydnei Marshall leading Three Rivers with 13 points, while Lexi Weaver and Kamille Brown each scored 11. TRC shot 40% from the floor and went only 3-for-22 from 3-point range.

The first quarter began in the Lady Raiders favor, but small mistakes like missing layups and giving up offensive rebounds kept their early lead in single digits. Three Rivers led 13-6 with 4:34 remaining in the first.

Back-to-back turnovers led to consecutive scores for State Fair to cut the lead to 13-10. Jasmine Davis hit two to make it 15-10, but the Lady Roadrunners hit a triple to reduce the TRC lead to 15-13.

Wiggs called timeout with 52 seconds remaining as State Fair scored after two misses to cut the lead to 19-18. Another Three Rivers turnover resulted in a foul, which State Fair converted into a 19-19 tie.

Davis responded for the Lady Raiders with a trey as time expired to give Three Rivers a 22-19 lead going into the second quarter.

State Fair opened the second with a bucket-and-one to tie the game at 22 and then took a 25-22 lead with a 3-pointer. The Lady Raiders defense struggled to turn the momentum back in their favor, committing more fouls than turnovers.

State Fair found themselves in the foul bonus with 6:31 left in the half, thanks to the Lady Raiders’ fifth foul of the period. By the next timeout at 4:43 remaining, State Fair led 34-28.

At 4:05, another State Fair 3 put the Lady Roadrunners up 40-28, their largest lead of the game until that point. Wiggs called another timeout after the Lady Roadrunners increased their lead to 44-30.

The Lady Raiders’ defense managed to stop the bleeding somewhat, but the offense still struggled to connect, missing more shots than they made and was lucky to be down by only nine points at the half, 48-39.

The Lady Roadrunners outscored Three Rivers 29-17 in the second quarter. State Fair completed 50% of its field goal attempts to Three Rivers’ 35% shooting.

State Fair scored five out of the gate in the third quarter, but Three Rivers chipped away over the first half of the period to come within seven points at 53-46 at 4:53 left in the third.

Three Rivers cut the score to 56-52 and then went into the bonus with 1:25 left in the third quarter. Sydnei Marshall brought the Lady Raiders to within two at 56-54 with two foul shots off that bonus.

Marshall tied it up at 56 on her next possession with a steal-and-score. However, State Fair made one of two free throws followed by a 3 to end the third quarter with a 60-56 lead. Three Rivers outscored the Lady Roadrunners 17-12 in the period.

Both teams traded baskets and turnovers over the first five minutes of the fourth with State Fair holding their four-point lead at 64-60 with 4:42 left in regulation. The Lady Raiders tied it at 64 after a media timeout, but State Fair regained it 66-64 with a layup.

Marshall came back to tie it at 66 with two free throws for Three Rivers with three minutes remaining.

Britani Wells put Three Rivers up 68-66 with two minutes left to play and possession of the ball after a defensive steal, but the Lady Raiders could not extend the lead on that possession. State Fair regained a one-point lead with a 3-pointer on the other end.

After two free throws, State Fair led 71-68 with 36 seconds left. Three Rivers turned the ball over out of bounds on their end of the court.

Three Rivers had three fouls to give, and after committing two, State Fair committed a five-second inbounds violation, giving the Lady Raiders a chance to send it into overtime with a 3-pointer.

Two 3-point shots missed, and Laylah Reese scored a layup to bring Three Rivers within one, but the Lady Raiders had to foul again on the inbounds pass, and they trailed again by three, 73-70 with 0.6 seconds on the clock. The Lady Raiders’ last-second 3-point attempt fell short.